Pylos (1994)

A simple design, but a good strategy game. Be the player that places the final ball at the top of the pyramid. Sounds simple enough, right?

Like in Go, 2 players square off with their colored pieces, in this case dark or light balls. The board has 16 hollows that allow a pyramid to be built. The goal is to be the one at the top.

The strategy comes in even as the first few pieces are placed on the board; if you can get a "square" formed (4 balls of your color adjacent to each other on the same level), you can remove any 1 or 2 of your pieces (that don't support other pieces) and put them back in your reserve.

Even if a square formed is not all one color, a piece-saving move is available called "stacking." Anywhere a square is formed, a player can move a piece up a level, onto the square. This can effectively lock some pieces down, at least for a little while. It also allows the player to make a play without using a piece from their reserve.

Although the rules are only 1 side of a sheet of paper, they do include a couple of variants. One is for children (no square bonus), the other is for experts (1 or 2 pieces removed if you form a "line" in your color). The rules state that the game duration is normally between 5 and 20 minutes.

Pylos evolved from the designer's earlier game Strat-o-sphere.

Components

• 1 Pyramid Board
• 30 Wooden Balls
• Rules

1994 Mensa Select